Vandals torch Firebird Festival sculpture in Phoenixville

Tom AvrilOf The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHOENIXVILLE — Vandals set a giant wooden sculpture of a bird on fire early Saturday morning in Phoenixville, barely 16 hours before it was to have been burned in a ceremony in the borough's annual Firebird Festival, fire officials said.

Perhaps taking their cue from the mythological lore of the phoenix, organizers vowed in online posts that they would rebuild a version of the structure in time for the scheduled 8 p.m. lighting.

Firefighters received a call about the burning structure about 3:30 a.m., according to a member of the Phoenixville Fire Department who declined to give his name. There were no injuries but the all-wood structure, located in Friendship Field on Fillmore Street, could not be saved, he said. Photos showed the structure to be at least 30 feet tall.

Henrik Stubbe Teglbjaerg, one of the organizers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a Facebook post apparently written by him indicated frustration mixed with resilience.

"I don't know what to say. Somebody burned down the bird!" the poster wrote before 6 a.m. Saturday on the festival's page. "Everything is ready for the festival, I say let (sic) still have it. What do you think?"

By mid-morning, residents had dropped off so many donations of wood to rebuild the bird that organizers finally posted on the festival's Facebook site that they did not need any more.

The one-day festival includes live music, crafts, and food vendors. It starts at 3 p.m. with the lighting planned for 8 p.m.